Combined drive and throttle control



May 22, 1956 5, ERTSGAARD ETAL 2,746,3i5

COMBINED DRIVE AND THROTTLE CONTROL Filed Sept. 25, 1954 H 2,746,315 COMBINED muvn ANDTHROTTLE eoNraoL Byron L. Ertsgaard and Herbert F. Homer, Jr., Minneapolis, Minn., assignors'to Toro Manufacturing (Tarporation of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn, a corporation of Minnesota Application September 23, 1954, Serial No. 457,965 i 6 Claims. ((31. 74-472 This invention relates to manually guided power-driven ground-traversing machines. More particularly it relates to a combined drive and throttle control for the engine of .a' power-driven machine such as a lawnmower and the like. 1

Inrecent years it has been found desirable in the use of various power-driven hand-guided ground-traversing machines to provide a single motor or engine mounted upon an adapter plate and provided with a handle structure a unit assembly movable from one such machine to another and capable of being connected to each in driving relation and thereby eliminating the cost of furnishing a separate engine for each. Most such engines have releasable drives and throttles and the normal operation of most such machines makes it desirable for the operator to be able to. adjust the throttle and throw the drive in and out at will without releasing his grip upon the handle of the assembly. Our invention is directed toward providing means for sodoing.

It is a general object of our invention to provide a combined drive and throttle control for hand-guided powerdriven machines controllable at the gripping portion of the handle structure of the machine and constructed simply and inexpensively. a j i A more specific object is to provide a combined drive and throttle control for hand-guided power-driven machines whereby. the throttle and drive of the machine may simultaneously be adjusted by the adjustment of a single member carried upon the handle of the machine.

A still more specific object is to providea single adjustment member mounted upon the handle of a hand-guided power-driven machine, the adjustment member being capable of controlling both the adjustable drive and the throttle of the machine through simple manipulation of the adjustment member.

Another object is to provide a single adjustmentmember mounted upon the handle of a hand-guided powerdriven machine and operatively connected to a single control member which may control the drive and the throttle of the machine.

Another object is to provide for power-driven machines a single control member capable of several types of movement and operatively connected to the throttle and the drive member of the machine so that one type of its movement will control the drive and the other type will control the throttle of the machine.

Another object is to provide a combined drive and throttle control for hand-guided power-driven machines mounted upon the collapsible handle structure of the machine and capable of simple adjustment to simultaneously control both the drive and the throttle of the machine, the control mechanism being capable of collapsing with the handle structure of the machine.

These and other objects and advantages of our inven wherein like reference'characters refer to the same or similar parts throughout the several views, and in which: i Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a reel-type lawn mower equipped with one embodiment of our invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the adapter assembly removed from the lawn mower shown in .Fig. l and equipped with one embodiment of our invention; and 1 Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view showing the operative connections between the adjusting member .onthe handle in Figs. 1 and 2 and the drive andthrottle of the engine. One embodiment of our invention is shown in Fig. I

mounted on a reel-type lawn mower indicated generally as M while Fig. 2 shows the unitary guiding and driving assembly after it has been removed from the reel-type lawn mower M. The guiding and driving assembly shown in Fig. 2 may, of course, be utilized with other powerdriven hand-guided ground-traversing machines. The driving and guiding assembly indicated generally as A is fixedly connected to the mowing machine M by a connector plate 5 which is carried upon the upper surface of the mowing machine and an adapter plate ,6 which constitutes the base for the driving and guiding assembly A. The adapter plate 6 has a forwardly extending lip 6a at its forward edge which is inserted and cooperates with a channel member 5a at the front edge of the connecting,

plate 5. As-best shown in Fig. 1, the lip 6a is inserted into the channel 5a and this positively secures theforward ends of the two plates 5 and 6 together. Any conventional clamping means (not shown) or screw means mounted on the adapter plate 6 adjacent its rear edge may be used to fixedly and removably secure the adapter plate 6 to the connector plate 5. This may be in the form of a screw means mounted on the adapter plate and movable to locking position behind the rear edge of theconnector plate.

Pivotally' connected to opposite rear corners of the adapter plate 6 bypivot bolts 7 is a collapsible handle structure indicated generally as H. This handle structure is collapsible midway between its ends as best shown in Fig. 2 and has grip portions 8 at its upper and outer end; Mounted on the adapter plate 6 and fixedly secured thereto is a gasoline engine indicated generally as B. As shown, this engine has an adjustable drive member 9 which is drivably connected-bye. V-belt 10a to a pulley 11 carried on the mower M so that the reel of the mower will be driven by the engine. The drive member 9 consists of a pulley half 10 fixed to the drive shaft 10b of the engine E and rotating therewith. A second pulley half 12 is mounted on the drive shaft 10b and is slidable longitudinally thereof and is freely rotatable thereabout.

This' slidable pulley half has a boss 13 with a groove 14 formed in its circumferential surface. also has a throttle member 15.

Mounted on the engine E is a control member or shaft 16, as best shown in Fig. 3. This control member or shaft has a circumferentially extending groove 17 and is pierced The engine E as at 18. This shaft v16 is mounted in a pair of support provided therefore at the apex of the angle of the bracket.

One of the legs 22 of the bracket B has a sleeve 23 at its outer end which fits into the groove 17 of the control shaft 16 to prevent the shaft from sliding longitudinally relative to the leg 22, but permitting rotationof the Patented May 22, 1956 n 3 shaft 16 therewithin. The other leg 24 of the bracket B carries in free pivotable relation the lower end of a bifurcated member 25, the prongs of which fit into the groove 14 of the slidable pulley half 12 in such a way as to move the slidable half 12 longitudinally of the driving shaft 11 when the bracket B pivots around the pivot rod 21.

A slotted generally U-shaped control bracket indicated generally as 26 is carried by the control shaft 16, the

latter extending through opposed openings provided therefore in the legs 27 and'28 of the bracket. A pin 29 extends through the shaft 16 and through the slot 30 of the bracket 26 to key the shaft 16 to the bracket against rotative movement relative to the bracket and to permit sliding movement of the shaft relative to the bracket. One end of the leg 27 is connected by a rod 31 to the throttle 15, hooks being provided at each end of the rod 31 for that purpose;

Secured to the rearward end of the control rod 16 is a universal joint 32 and this joint is connected by linkage indicated as L to a control knob 33 which is positioned upon the handle structure H adjacent the gripping members 8. The linkage L is comprised of a lower link 34 and an upper link 35 which are pivotally connected as at 36 adjacent the point of pivot of the handle structure in order to make the linkage L foldable or collapsible with the handle structure H.

To utilize our invention only the simplest type of manipulations is necessary. To control the throttle 15 the user needs only to rotate the knob 33 and thereby rotate the linkage L. Rotation of the linkage L, through the universal joint 32, causes the control shaft 16 to rotate about its longitudinal axis since the pin 26, which extends through the slot 30 of the control bracket 3 is secured to the shaft 16 and rotates therewith. The connecting rod 31 will be moved vertically in accordance with the direction of rotation of the shaft 16. This will cause the throttle 15 to be opened or closed depending upon the direction of rotation of the shaft and of the knob 33.

Thus. the user can very readily control the throttle of the engine E while continuing to grip the grip portions 8 o the handle.

The drive member 9 may be equally as easily controlled by the operator and from the same position without necessitating walking around the handle structure to regulate the same. By pulling upon the knob 33 the operator can cause the shaft 16 to slide longitudinally within the blocks 19 and 20 and to thereby compel the control bracket B to rotate about its vertical pivot 21. This effect will be attained as a result of the connection between the sleeve 23 and the control shaft 16 in the groove 17. When the bracket B pivots about the axis of the member 21, the slidable half. 12 of the drive member 9 will be slid longitudinally of the drive shaft 11 by the fork 14 which fits into the groove 13. When the slidable half 12 is pressed against the V-belt a, the belt will be moved into driving relation and will drive the mower M, When the knob 33 is pulled upon to cause the control rod 16 to shift to the rear, the slidable half 12 of the pulley will be pulled away from the fixed half 10 so that the V-belt may drop between the two halves and thereby be sufliciently loosened so as to ride in non-driving relation to the mower M. In this manner a very suitable and highly satisfactory driving action can be attained from the gripping portion of the handle structure.

It will be noted that the drive member and throttle member may be simultaneously controlled through manipulation of the knob 33. Thus it is possible to open or close the throttle while simultaneously throwing the drive in or out of driving relation as may be desired.

It will also be noted that the combined drive and throttle control disclosed herein is readily foldable along with the collapsible handle structure so that the entire assembly may be readily stored in small compass.

Thus it can be seen that we have provided a novel, simple and inexpensive combined drive and throttle control which will save substantially in both time and inconvenience. The entire mechanism can be manufactured with a relatively small amount of material and expense and it is very simple in operation. Only one member need be adjusted to effectively control the machine as to whether the machine is to be driven and as to the extent of power to be supplied to that machine.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes ,may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the various parts without departing from the scope of our invention.

What is claimed is:

1. The combination of a lawn mower having collapsible handle structure, an engine mounted on said mower in driving relation and having a drive and a throttle, a movable shaft supported bysaid lawn mower and mounted for shifting longitudinal movement and for rotation about its longitudinal axis, an operative connection between said shaft and, said drive to cause the latter to be shifted between driving and non-driving position as a result of one of said movementsof said shaft, an operative connection between said shaft and said throttle to cause the latter to be adjusted as a result of the other of said movements of said shaft, and manually operated means mounted on said handle structure and connected to said shaft for causing the latter to move longitudinally and to rotate about its longitudinal axis as desired, the connection between said means and said shaft being flexible to permit said handle structure to collapse.

2. The combination of a lawn mower having collapsible handle structure, an engine mounted on said mower in driving relation and having a drive and a throttle member, a single control member supported by said lawn mower and constituting a combined drive and throttle control, an operative connection between said control member and said drive member, an operative connection between said control member and said throttle, linkage operatively connected to said control member and extending upwardly therefrom along said handle structure, and manually operated adjustment means mounted on said handle structure, and operatively connected to said linkage whereby said control member may be operated therefrom, said linkage being jointed to permit folding of the same when said handle structure is collapsed.

3. The combination of a lawn mower having handle structure thereon, extending upwardly and rearwardly therefrom and an engine mounted on said mower in driving relation and having a drive and a throttle member, a single control member supported by said lawn mower and constituting a combined drive and throttle control, an operative connection between said control member and said drive member, an operative connection between said control member and said throttle, a universal joint operatively connected with said control member, linkage operatively connected to said universal joint and extending upwardly therefrom along said handle structure, and manually operated adjustment means mounted on said handle structure and operatively connected to said linkage whereby said control member may be operated therefrom.

4. A lawn mower guiding and driving assembly comprising an adaptor plate adapted to be fixedly secured to a lawn mower unit, an engine mounted on said adaptor plate andadapted to be connected in driving relation with the mowing unit when said plate is so secured and having a drive and a throttle member thereon, handle structure connected with said adaptor plate and extending upwardly therefrom, a single control member supported by said adaptor plate and constituting a combined drive and throttle control, an operative connection between said control member and said drive member, an operative connectionbetween said control member and said throttle, and manually operated adjustment means mounted'on said handle structure and operatively connected to said control member whereby both the drive and the throttle of said engine may be readily controlled is so attached.

5. A guiding and dri ving assembly for use in conjuncto cause the latter to be shifted between driving and nondriving position as a result of one of said movements of said shaft, an operative connection between said control member and said throttle tocause the latter to be adjusted as a result of the other of said movements of said shaft, and manually operated adjustment means carried byfsaid handle structure and operatively connected to said control member for causing the latter to move longitudinally and to rotate about its longitudinal axis as desired.

6. The combination of a lawn mower adapted to have I by the operator of the mower when said adaptor plate an adapter plate mounted thereon, an adapter plate removably mounted on said lawn mower and rigidly secured thereto, an engine mounted onsaid adapter plate and connected in driving relation with said mower and having a drive and a throttle member thereon, handle structure connected with said adapter plate and extending upwardly therefrom, a single control member supported by said adapter plate and constituting a combined drive and throttle control, an operative connection between said control member and said drive member, an operative connection between said control member and said throttle, and manually operated adjustment means mounted on said handle structure and operatively connected to said control member whereby both the drive and the throttle on said engine may be readily controlled by the operator 7 of the mower,

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,798,724 Chalmers Mar. 31, 1931 2,026,220 Denker Dec. 31, 1935 2,321,098 Morse June 8, 1943 2,348,022 Owens May 2, 1944 2,398,601 Seifert Apr. 16, 1946 2,420,856 Brill etal. May 20, 1947 2,502,969 Maier Apr. 4, 1950 2,593,170 Morse Apr. 15, 1952 2,618,235 Clark Nov. 18, 1952 

